The reason you will never see an N-Series phone sold by a carrier in the US is that the market does not exist. The N97 will likely cost well above $1000 when it is released. Even if a carrier subsidized that to, let's say, $500 with a contract. They still couldn't sell it.

Americans want free or extremely cheap phones. That's the bottom line. Carriers simply can't sell handsets for more than $300 on contract in this country.

it's amazing how it works in the usa. in india, phones are not sold by carrier. most of my friends have unlocked bb's bought from different markets world over.

nokia's are some of the cheapest phones to buy, sony ericssons are expensive. Motorolas *shudder* are for the people who don't use phones for anything else except texting. *shudder*

you rarely buy phones on contracts here. its amazing how cheap they are when sold outright ;)